Trade enjoys New Year jump
The General Department of Customs said exports
surged 10.1 percent from the previous year to 5.55 billion USD, while
imports increased 15.6 percent to 5.51 billion USD.
Textile and
garment exports topped the list, rising 201 million USD. Footwear and
seafood exports followed, rising 91 million USD and 84 million USD,
respectively.
Compared with the same period last year, the
country spent more on importing equipment and components (up 237 million
USD) and fabrics (up 48 million USD).
Foreign-invested firms
contributed 3.39 billion USD, accounting for more than 61 percent of the
country's total exports by value. Moreover, companies spent 3.19
billion USD on imports, which represented 58 percent of the country's
total imports by value.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade
forecast that this year's exports will increase 10 percent to 145
billion USD thanks to an expansion into new markets and greater
opportunities from new trade deals, such as the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP) and the Vietnam-EU free trade agreement.
In a
recent report, HSBC Bank also anticipated a year of robust growth for
export-oriented firms because of improving global conditions and the
possible conclusion of trade negotiations.
The report added that
improved demand from the EU and the US would lift Vietnam's exports in
2014 by 20 percent, higher than the growth rate of 15.4 percent seen in
2013.
With a relatively high exposure to the US market (18
percent of total exports head to the US) and the EU (14 percent of total
exports), Vietnam is poised to benefit from improving demand, the
report noted.-VNA